Gigantic Glaciers: One Of The Reasons For An Alaska Cruise!

Find out why a (Holland America) Alaskan cruise should be on your bucket list. So many historical sites, breath taking nature, culture, glaciers, UNESCO World Heritage sites AND you can eat, drink and be merry on board of your cruise ship.

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Our Alaska Cruise

Actually, we had no plans to take an Alaska cruise until suddenly we did. When we embarked on our “Visit all US state capitols” Juneau was a far fetched goal. But then we got $ 1,600 in airline credit thanks to a long delay, we decided to use that to fly to Juneau.

After booking flights, we needed to find a place to stay. Usually we use Hilton Honor Points. Oops, no Hiltons in Juneau and all the other hotels were really expensive! What to do?

Well, we found a really cheap Holland-America Alaska cruise out of Seattle, which stopped in Juneau. Even better: the cruise would be cheaper than a hotel stay in Juneau! So that was an easy decision and we changed our flight to Seattle and booked a cruise!

Alaska Cruise Itinerary

Frankly, we were woefully uneducated about Alaska, notwithstanding having read the James Michener book. So every day brought new surprises and interesting tidbits of culture and history. In addition to the ports of call, Holland-America was very good at presenting movies / shows / presentations about our destinations.

Day 1: Setting Sail in Seattle: Picturesque Puget Sound

Because this was our first time to take a big ocean cruise, we had no idea what to expect. I had worried about standing in line for a long time, but was happy to see they had a separate and faster check in for people with walking difficulties. Sometimes MS can be useful 😀

After a pretty smooth processing and passport checking, we got to board the Eurodam, our home for the next 7 days. Because we are cheap, we had a small cabin down in the basement, but it had everything we would want or needed. Well, apart from a balcony. Or a window for that matter.

Still, a comfortable bed, a tiny bath room and even a desk with a screen on which we could see a view from the top deck of the boat. Almost as good as actually having a window. Yeah, not really, but it was in our price range.

Day 2: Exploring and Relaxing At Sea

Our first sea day was perfect for exploring the Eurodam, and get tons of steps in for my fitbit. We enjoyed good food, soothing sea views and waved at Victoria, Canada when we passed it.

A year ago, we had seen many eagles and snow geese on Vancouver Island. Cool to get a different perspective from our cruise ship.

Walking around all day on the ship gave us a good feeling for all the amenities. To me, the most surprising one was a full sized basket ball court on the top deck! Those cruise ships truly are huge!

Day 3: Juneau! Visiting the State House

Of course in Juneau, our first destination was the Alaska State Capitol! After all, this was our main motivation for taking this cruise. Or at least it was a convenient excuse. What a joy it was to walk the streets of Juneau and feel the spirits of the many who had been there before us.

The Tlingit (indigenous habitants), the Russians, and finally the Americans. All through the town we noticed both Tlingit and Russian cultures influences. We saw ravens and eagles, important animals to the Tlingit.

After our tour of the Alaska Capitol and failing to find a serial number on the full sized liberty bell replica, we explored more of the city. We visited two old Russian orthodox churches: St. Nicholas Orthodox Church and the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Very interesting, stay tuned for later articles about them.

By now it was almost time to head back to the ship, so we did just that and relaxed while the sun set on another successful Port of Call day. Which also happened to be our 5 year anniversary! Loved being on an Alaskan cruise to celebrate it.

Day 4: Glacier Bay NP: An Abundance of Awesomeness!

Almost impossible to convey in pictures, Glacier Bay National Park was one of the highlights of our Holland-America Alaska cruise. Looming large over us, the mountains surrounding us were majestic and phenomenal. To give an idea of their size, watch this sail boat turned into insignificance in front of them.

Not only is Glacier Bay a US National Park, but it also is an UNESCO world heritage site AND a Biosphere Reserve (just like the Everglades).

Glacier Bay National Park is about 600,000 acres and contains two Tlingit ancestral homelands. True to its name, the park has more than 1,000 glaciers, of which we got to see a gigantic one up close. Only two cruise ships can enter the bay each day, so I feel blessed that the Eurodam was one of them.

After cruising Glacier Bay for a while, our ship spent a good portion of the day right at a glacier. Thanks to rangers from the National Park Service on board, we learned tons about the ecosystems and animals surrounding us. If we had been organized, we even could have had our National Park Service book stamped.

Of course there were lots of birds, it was cool to see them resting on the copious ice floats right along the ship. A ternery of terns were busy hunting and I saw so many birds that I did not recognize.

Day 5: Sitka: Where The Russians Sold Us Alaska

Since we started this Holland-America Alaska cruise to visit Juneau, the current capital, we loved discovering that Sitka used to be the state capital from 1867 to 1906.

Sitka has a long history of settlements. Starting around 10,000 years ago, the native Tlingits saw a smoking vulcano (Mount Edgecumbe) and considered it a sign to establish first community here. All was well, until…

Many millenia later, the Russians discovered this island, chock-full of natural resources and settled here in 1799. Not impressed by these interlopers, a few years later, the Tlingit destroyed the Russian settlement. Regretfully, it took only a few years before the Russians invaded and settled again.

Less than a century later, Russia decided that Alaska wasn’t particularly useful to them, so in 1867, they sold it to the USA for a mere 7.2 million dollars. Though it sounds like a lot of money, it actually is only 2 cents per acre. Of course, the indigenous people were totally left out of this transaction. Interesting and sad fact: at that time, Alaska Natives numbered about 30,000, while there were only 800 Russians.

Anyway, we visited the location of the transfer and of the first American flag flown right in downtown Sitka. In addition to this historical site, there is a Sitka National Historical Park to visit. And don’t miss out on the Sitka Lutheran Church and the St. Michael’s Orthodox Cathedral.

Day 6: Ketchikan: Duck, Duck… Boat!

Long before the Europeans arrived, the Tlingit natives used Ketchikan Creek served as a summer fish camp. Nowadays the city is called “The Salmon Capital of the World”.

We were looking forward to seeing totem poles, since Ketchikan has the world’s largest collection! What better way of seeing the city and the harbor than by taking the Ketchikan “Duck” Tour? They claim it as a Historic City and Harbor Tour all in one. “It’s a Bus, It’s a Boat and yes, it floats.”

For 90 minutes we sat back, relaxed and let the tour guide tell us all about Ketchikan. Did you know that Lisa Murkowski, the US senator from Alaska, was born in Ketchikan?

Just like many other days, we got to see eagles while on the boat tour. I love how we constantly stumbled over bald eagles during our whole Alaska cruise.

Day 7: Victoria, Canada

Thanks to us spending a week in Victoria the year before, we didn’t feel obligated to try to see “everything”. Instead, we wandered around the harbor and had a drink at the Empress Hotel, overlooking the harbor.

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Happy to see our last cruise sunset right in such a fun and historic location!

Day 8: Back “Home” to Seattle

Not only did this Holland-America cruise leave from Seattle, it also ended in Seattle! What a great experience it was! We celebrated by bungee jumping off the Space Needle, even with my MS!

In addition we visited the Washington State Capitol in Tacoma.

Conclusion: You Too Should Take an Alaska Cruise!

If you are on the fence about taking an Alaska Cruise, get off the fence and do it. Between the nature, the walk through history and the excellent food and services on the ship, it is a no-brainer.

Have you been on an Alaska cruise? Or want to do it? Please let us know in the comments. Or maybe you have been on another Holland-America cruise you want to tell us about.

Check out Kwek’s Amazing Alaska Adventures !

Other UNESCO World Heritage Sites You Should Visit

World Heritage Sites in the Americas

• Sian Ka’an Biosphere in Mexico: where the sun was born;
• The Everglades: both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Biosphere Reserve;
• The Statue of Liberty in New York City, USA;
• Take an Alaska cruise and visit Glacier Bay National Park;
• Go watch whales in Quebec City;
• Puerto Rico Does it Better! Old San Juan and fun facts about Puerto Rico

World Heritage Sites in Europe

• Paris around the Seine;
• Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam: right in the middle of the historic Canals District;
• Passau, Germany, often the start or end of a Danube river cruise;
• Matera, Italy: the oldest continually habituated place in the world, also called the City of Caves;

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